Fate's Cruel Crossroads
by sailormoonlover19
Summary: Raven is a regular girl, leading a regular life when a familiar girl enters her AP English class and her word is flipped upside- down. Now memories are returning and she isn't certain if she wants to be returned to her past life. This is the story of six friends desperately trying to fight their fate and turn it into destiny. This is Fate's Cruel Crossroads.
1. Episode 1 part 1: Introduction

_It is midnight, 12:05 to be exact when my baby's cry pierces the silent air like a tiny dagger. I get out of bed and make my way to the nursery, where she sleeps. Although tears aren't streaming down her tiny cheeks, she is wailing extremely loudly. Maybe I should have stayed with her. I settle into the rocking chair nearby and start to sing the lullaby I learned from my own mother years ago._

 _Along with the gentle swaying of my arms, she ceases her crying and now is staring me. I stare back. There is an unfamiliar tightening in my chest as I look into my daughter's bright emerald eyes. Why, oh why, does my heart hurt so? I search my brains and memories for an answer and stop suddenly when I recall the memory._

 _In my little girl's eyes, I recognize a certain something I lost ten years ago. Innocence. I recollect the time when I once I had stars in my eyes. When I wasn't concerned about my future and when I had dreams of first kisses and enchanting romances._

 _I want to remember that time, so I begin tracing back to where the paths of life led me, where I was once still very much a child. As I do this, however, I see a time where multiple paths crossed mine._

 _When my life stopped going in a straight line and began to, my life changed because of them, so many years ago..._

* * *

At the ripe age of seventeen, I was right between adolescence and adulthood and was about to graduate from high school to the college of my choice. Senior year had been relatively easy so far, being a year to relax and prepare for the transition. It was halfway through the school year when her path crossed mine.

It was November 30 and break had ended a couple of days after Thanksgiving break. We were in English lit class and Mr. Rumph was droning on and on about crap nobody cared about.

To him, we were writing down important notes that would help us in college, but in reality, most of us were passing notes to one another and gazing out the window.

I wasn't being attentive either because I already knew all of the stuff he was talking about, so I was currently occupied in reading the latest Teen Titan novel by S. W.

Usually, I don't read popular, shallow, actioned packed novels, but Teen Titans was an exception.

It was witty, gritty, dark, and had wonderful character development. You know _that_ book? The book where you think the author understands you and the book that you rate 10/10. The book that you wish everyone in the world could read because it's so good. Yeah, the Teen Titan novels were _my_ books.

"Hey, Rae. Rae." I was being poked in the shoulder by the tip of Garfield Logan's mechanical pencil.

I couldn't explain it but whenever I look at in his eyes, my stomach lurched and I got a pleasant feeling from it. Ever since I met Garfield junior year, I always had a feeling that we'd met somewhere, in another time. That completely contrasted, however, with How I actually treated him.

"What do you want Garfield?" I whispered.

"You should really be paying attention to Mr. Rumph, I hear he gives super hard tests."

"Instead of bothering me about studying for tests, you follow your own advice and pay attention."

I don't need to turn around to know he's smirking. "I'm smart enough to pass with studying."

I rolled my eyes and whipped around in my seat. "If you were twice as intelligent you were now, you would still be an idiot."

"You can tell me I'm an idiot all you want, but I'm not the one who didn't get to be Valedictorian." What he said was true, me, Raven Roth was beaten by him, Garfield Logan, to be Valedictorian. I know how it happened but still. He's the guy whose birth certificate is an apology from the condom factory, so how'd he beat me?

I gave him the finger."Garfield Logan, I wasn't born with enough middle fingers to let you know how I feel about you." I turned back around and continued reading.

I was just the part when Slade was fighting Terra when the class suddenly went silent. I put my book down and looked up. There was a girl standing in front of the class. She was petite and a blue- eyed blonde. And wore a yellow T-shirt, jeans, and a denim jacket.

"Class... this is Tarassa Markov. She just transferred here from Europe. Treat her well."

I didn't know why, but I had a weird feeling when I set my eyes on the blonde. Like deja vu mixed with indigestion. Like I'd seen her before but didn't know from where.

She went to sit in the empty seat behind Garfield, hindering me from getting a complete profile of her face. Rumph returned to his lesson, but nobody was paying attention because they were too preoccupied gazing at the transfer student.

Garfield was full on flirting with her behind me, so I couldn't speak to her if I wanted to.

The bell rang and everyone practically ran out of the class cheering. It was a locker break and I went to mine to collect my things for biology.

"Umm, excuse me?" A high-pitched voice prevented me from completing my current task. I looked up to see the new girl, Tarassa, hovering over me and smiling.

"Can I help you?" I said trying not to sound so annoyed.

"Umm, do you know where Locker # 105 is?"

My locker number is 106, so the one on my right must be 105. Which means Blondie should have figured that out before asking me, but whatever, I'll bite my tongue.

"The one right next to mine."

She gave an 'I'm such a dork' face and said, "Oh, that is convenient" before going onto figuring out the combination written on a sheet of paper the principal most likely had written for her.

I finished collecting my supplies and attempted to make past the sea of students, but to no avail. Suddenly the crowd parted and I was pushed into a locker. I stood on my tiptoes to see what had caused such a miracle when I saw them.

Kori Anders and Richard Grayson. 'That' couple. The couple whose crushes on each other were so obvious, it made you want to yell, 'Just kiss already!'.

Kori was head cheerleader and a super sexy redhead. She was also nice - even to people like me - and got good grades. Something about her when I first saw her was weird too, same as Blondie, but in a good way instead of strange.

Same goes for Richard. He barely knew me until the time I got angry at him and called him ' Dick ' and the nickname stuck. But I still got a feeling from him and a pleasant one at that.

They were strutting down the hallway, arms intertwined, waving at the many people that were cheering and shouting "Goals!" Even so, I saw a strange emotion in their eyes, one that wasn't masked by their Colgate smiles. Then, for a fraction of a second, their eyes simultaneously locked on the blonde next to me.

I don't know how I saw this, but I did. The teachers came caterwauling out of the classrooms and yelled for us to get a move on. I ran to biology to avoid being late.

* * *

As the day progressed, I started seeing more and more of Blondie. And whenever I saw her, I always had a sinking feeling in my gut, as if it was warning me that the girl was trouble.

After having my lunch in the library, as usual, I started my usual sprint to the gym all the way across the campus. When I entered, as always, a large crowd was gathered around Kori Anders.

I never knew how, but she somehow resembled a Victoria Secret model in our gym clothes, even though they were hideous polyester onesies. I stepped outside onto the gym floor.

The boys were already seated in their assigned places, so I went and sat on mine. Eventually, the girls came out, squealing and giggling about some girly crap nobody gives a damn about.

Coach Fessehaye came in the gym blowing his whistle so loud, I thought my eardrums would pop. She was a large, flat chested woman with strong, muscular thighs.

"Alright ladies and actual ladies, today we will be participating in the fine art of dodgeball. Since PE is scientifically proven to be the most important subject, we will be working on dodgeball for a few weeks. Furthermore,..."

She was interrupted by Victor Stone when he yelled, "You've been talking for ten minutes Sir, I mean, Ma'am! Let's play ball!"

A few people snickered, but Fessehaye kept her cool. She took the ball bag and threw out many of them.

"Let's play ball!" she shouted.

I must have been very exhausted because I got out pretty quickly and ended up running laps behind the girls who came to the gym to gossip with their friends. The only muscles they ever exercise were the ones in their mouths and they did those very often.

When were seven people running, Blondie entered the gym. She looked instantly confused as to what was occurring at the moment. Then her perplexed eyes met that of our furious gym teacher.

Poor innocent soul, so clueless as to why Fessehaye wanted us to be our uniform 24/7. I hadn't meant to be intrusive, but I slowed my pace to listen to their conversation.

"Why aren't you wearing your gym clothes?" Fessehaye demanded.

"I didn't know I had to wear gym clothes, it is my first day here. And judging from how all the girls look in them, I'd rather not wear them."

"Watch your tongue, young lady. We don't tolerate students that talk back to teachers in this school; remember that."

Tarassa was about to respond when Victor Stone's ball impacts with her forehead, which knocked her down. "My bad," Victor yelled, grinning before getting back to the game.

"You're out, New Girl. Now take a lap with the others." Fessehaye said before she marched away.

When Blondie joined us, I remember very vividly how she looked up close. She had heart shaped freckles that very barely noticeable. Her top lip was fuller than the bottom and I was embarrassed to say this - even to myself -, she had baby blue eyes that were like a sparkling ocean. To this day, I've never seen anyone else's eyes like hers.

She noticed me though but didn't say anything. Instead, she said, "This class is the worst."

"..."

"So you stare but not talk, huh?"

"..."

"OK, then I will. My name is Tarassa Markov and I'm new here."

"No shit Sherlock," I deadpanned.

"So you do speak."

"Yeah, but I prefer not to talk to people. "

"Why?"

Either that girl was stupid ( maybe, because she was a blonde ) or she didn't understand the 'don't speak to freaks' rule. But she was new and a social virgin.

"It's better for me to think people are idiots than for them to talk to me and prove it."

Then Tarassa giggled and we just kept running in silence. A few I minutes later, I changed in the locker room and went back into the gym and waited for the bell to ring. I took out my _Teen Titans_ novel and began reading when a hand tapped on my shoulder. I didn't have to guess who it was. Tarassa smiled brightly like I was her best friend instead of barely an acquaintance.

"I love the Teen Titans books too!" she squealed.

"Yay."

"I favorite character has to be Raven though, she's so cool and deep."

"Cool? Deep?" I scoffed. Those were shallow words to describe an empath who had to cover her emotions for fear of losing control.

"Yeah, but I gotta say, I hate Terra; way too indecisive and stupid."

Those were words I was neutral about. Terra may have been an immature and indecisive teen, but she was much like Raven. Afraid of losing control and trying to gain it, but ultimately lost the fight in the end. I was sympathetic but also not.

The bell rang and everyone started to clear out, but Terra grabbed my hand.

"What do you want?" I hated being late.

"Thank you for being my friend today," she said simply and put an object in my hand and left.

This must have been the thing I remembered about Terra the most: how she acted when we met. But I also recall what she put in my palm as clear as day.

It was a golden T necklace.


	2. Episode 1 part 2: Titans Awakened!

**Holy Shit! We are Superheroes?!**

I don't recall seeing Tarassa for the remainder of the academic day. She just seemed to fade in and out of classes. Shortly, it became 1:50 and it was the last 15 minutes of Visual Arts class with. We had done the finishing touches on our paintings and Kori Anders came in her crimson cheer uniform.

Kori, Dick, Garfield, and Victor I remember, were all attending my VA class. And, in my teenage mind, I thought it was even worse than the fact that we were all in the same table.

"Yo, Kori!" Victor shouted from across the room. "Why the hell are you so late?"

"Victor, please, watch your language. I may be lenient but not _that_ lenient," Ms. Lebowitz said. I remember her more vividly than any other teacher; most like due to her fire engine red hair.

"My bad Ms. L."

After Kori gave her explanation on why she was so late, she rushed to her seat.

"So, what did I miss?" she asked.

"Only the entire period," I couldn't control myself from saying.

"Don't mind Raven, she's extra salty about something today," Garfield told her. I resisted the urge to punch him.

Victor snorted."Eh, Raven is always salty."

"You don't have to tell me," Dick grumbled.

"Anyway, guys, there was a new girl, Tarassa. Did you see her?" Kori asked.

"Yeah, I saw her. She's cute," Garfield said dreamily. I snorted. He glared at me. When I was seventeen, I remember I never found anyone attractive. Not boys, girl, animal, no one.

"Hmph. She's just your average blonde haired, blue eyed girl. She isn't unique," Dick said. I disagreed. I wasn't unique either.

"Hey, don't do my girl Terra like that, Dickey," Garfield said, smirking.

Dick seemed to be barely holding himself back choking Garfield, but he didn't.

"Anyway, she joined the cheer team and in tryouts, she did so well that she got to be the one on the top of the pyramid!"

"Why?"

"Because she's lighter than I am."

I didn't mean it when I said this but, " Nobody gives a damn about your shallow cheerleading problems, Kori."

Dick's eyebrows shot up. "Was she talking to you?"

"No, but I'd rather not hear her talk at all than listen to her babbling about things nobody gives a shit about."

"By nobody, you mean you. You just don't like hearing her talk to us because it reminds you that you have no friends."

"Fuck you."

Dick smirked when he realized he won and that I saw beaten.

"Kids, kids, attention." Ms. Lebowitz stood at the front of the class looking rather exhilarated. There were five minutes left.

"As you know we do an art project every year, but this time I'm switching things up. Instead of turning in paintings or drawings for a grade, I want you to do a collage of things or people that made your last year in this school better or worthwhile for you."

Excited gasps and murmurs became the instant reaction.

"You also have to write an essay on how these people changed your life and present it to the class. It will be due March 19."

Soon panic began to develop within me. Ms. Lebowitz knew that I had no friends or people that cared about me in that school. The only person that at least used to care about me was, well, Mama. Mama...

My heart ached at the mere thought of her. The pounding in my head drowned out the almost deafening sound of the bell.

"Raven?" I raised my head at the sound of the concerned tone in Ms. Lebowitz's voice. She did look worried. Tears began to form at the back of my eyes and I blinked to keep them in. Before she could ask anything, I left and didn't look back.

* * *

I ran home that day, thick tears were streaming down my cheeks and no matter how much I think about unpleasant memories, I can't stop?

Dammit, I thought I was over Mama's death years ago, but apparently, I wasn't. I arrived at our apartment complex in a relatively short time frame and took the elevator to get our floor, the 20th floor.

After unlocking the door with my house key, I left my shoes at the threshold, being raised like that.

I picked up the photo Daddy took 2005, twelve years ago on my birthday, before Mama's illness. She was smiling brightly and we were sitting on her art stool after she had just painted a portrait of me. She was always such a creative, artistic person. So kind and loving. I only inherited the artistic trait.

Her painter's smock was coated in neon paint that my hands were covered in also too. There was paint on each of my cheeks and my lavender dress, but I didn't care. All I cared about was being in Mama' arms for my birthday.

"What happened to me?" I said aloud to myself that day.

A knock at the door detached me from my thought process. With a swear, I made my way to the door. I looked through the peephole and saw Mr. Wilson through it. He was a Caucasian buff, muscular man with dirty blonde hair that had sprinkles of gray in it. I considered him a second father to me at the time.

"Afternoon, Mr. Wilson. Are you looking for my father?"

He smiled showing his gold teeth. I remember shivering at the sight. "Indeed I am," he said. "Isn't here is he?"

"I am sorry to say no. However, I assume he will return soon. Would you like to come in?"

"Oh no, thank you. I only came by to see your father. Have a good day." And with that, he left.

* * *

Unbeknownst to me, however, something was happening that involved my father that I wasn't aware of at the time.

"I've been looking for you," Slade Wilson announced into an office space. Sitting before him was none other than Trigon Roth, a fierce businessman, and father of Raven Roth. Standing erectly behind him were his minions, their faces expressionless masks in the near-darkness.

"Have you now? I presume you have news on Azar's Gem."

"Yes, it is in the biggest jewelry store, Forrester."

"Hopefully we can purloin the stones without much trouble." Trigon stood up abruptly, looking Slade in the eye. "I don't want my daughter finding out about any of this, understand me?"

"Amusing, really. You can call her your daughter after you remembered," Slade taunted.

Trigon slammed his fist on the desk. " Don't you _dare_ bring that up! I've changed; raising her since she was born has changed me!"

Slade smirked. "That doesn't change the past. A reincarnation doesn't change anything."

Trigon's nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. "If you have an issue with how I deal with my child, I can always change you back to what you used to be before." His smile became sinister. "If you held any respect or value for your life, it would be wise for you to hold your tongue in my presence."

Slade Wilson visibly recoiled, which was very unlike him but he had good reason to. He still had...certain things do and goals he wanted to accomplish. Trigon Roth was his ticket to being fully alive and human and if kissing his ass meant that that could happen, he would do it.

"I apologize," Slade said begrudgingly before his expression became a smirk. "After tonight, it will ultimately happen."

Trigon smirked also. "After tonight, there will never be a chance that the Teen Titans will come back."

* * *

Daddy came back super-late that day, about 2:00 AM. Yes, I was awake and alert at such a time. After Rose left cryptically, I finished my biology and English homework. After that, I cooked myself Ramen noodles while reading _Teen Titans,_ took a shower, and watched the documentary of Edgar Allen Poe.I attempted to turn in at 1:30 but just as I was about to drift into a dreamless sleep, the sound of Daddy's key unlocking awoke me.

He went straight to bed which meant he had a bad day or he was angry at someone. He used to kiss me goodnight.

I fell asleep relatively quickly after that but after a period of time, I awoke to the feel of cool metal against my skin. I opened my eyes and instantly got puzzled at my surroundings. I was on a table, being strapped down and a bright light shone overhead. The area was engulfed was darkness. But, as time passed by I started to recognize a few things such as decorative necklaces and extravagant rings. I had been there before, I knew it.

Where the hell was I? All these thoughts about rape and kidnapping and human experimentation ran through my mind. Then I looked to my sides and saw _them_. Garfield, Victor, Kori, Richard, and Tarassa were all on similar tables and strapped down as if they were animals. All were unconscious

Then I began to scream. No physical harm was being inflicted upon me, no sexual harassment or violation, yet I was screaming my lungs out. I sounded like a woman having an orgasm.

Suddenly, a tall figure emerged from the shadows, I couldn't make out the face shapes at the time, but I'll never forget who they were. He or she walked over to the side of the room and sat down with their back faced toward me. He wore such a sinister grin upon their face that it planted the seed of fear inside my belly which grew and coiled around my heart, tightening with each and every breath.

Why? Why was this happening to me? Had I not been punished enough when Mama died?

No...No...No!

No!

 _"No!"_

My scream seemed to pierce the humid, still air with blunt force. The gem levitated somehow from the person's hand, radiating white waves of light. It touched me like a gentle sigh; present but barely. It was intoxicating. So warm.

So gentle.

So warm.

Then the world became enveloped by the light for a fraction of a second. I opened my eyes I didn't even realize were closed.

The six figures were all huddled in a corner, terrified looks upon their faces. What? I looked behind me and saw a massive hole where the wall used to be. I spun around to see if the others were OK. Were they fine...to a degree? _What the hell?_ They were all conscious but something about them was different. They were groggy and confused probably because Tarassa and Kori were looking around and the boys were rubbing their eyes repeatedly.

Dick was dressed like a traffic light.

 _What the hell?_

Kori had orange skin and wore a purple miniskirt.

 _What the hell?_

90% of Victor's body was covered in metal, made him look like the hulk.

 _What the hell?_

Garfield was green! Like an elf! Like a chameleon! Like a freaking green bean!

And the most surprising...

Tarassa had curves. Oh, and a black and yellow outfit.

 _Actually, that's not that bad._

 _Wait.._

I looked down at my palms. They were ashen grey. I looked down at my feet and I was wearing indigo boots. I reached for my hair and found nothing. No, no way! I reached a little higher and grasped a fistful of hair. I studied at it. It was violet.

 _"SHIT!"_

"Raven? Is that you? " Tarassa asked. " Who are you?"

Everyone else suddenly became aware of my presence and just stared at me. Then they became aware of each other and stared at one another too.

" _What the hell?!"_ the five of them screamed simultaneously.

"Raven is gray!"

"Tarassa you're curvy!"

"Kori you're orange! And the skirt..just don't bend down."

"Vic, you're Robot Man Part 2!"

 _"SHUT UP!"_ I yelled at the top of my snapped their heads back toward me, clearly annoyed.

"What are you yelling about?" Garfield yelled. "You look like a freaking fortune teller!"

"Actually," Tarassa said, looking at us all. "we all look like a rag-tag group of freaks. Not just Raven."

I clenched my jaw. "Where did you all come from anyway?"

"The same to you friend Raven," Kori said. "We too do not understand the reason we are in such a peculiar place." She covered her mouth as soon as her bad English left her mouth.

Victor raised a questioning eyebrow, "Kor, why are ya talkin' like that? "

"I am afraid that I do not know the reason either. It is puzzling, to say the least."

Abruptly, a wide beam of crimson energy collided with our bodies. We rocketed backward and through the stone walls, disintegrating them into multiple tiny stone pieces and tumbled onto the concrete. My brain pounded inside my skull and my muscles ached. But despite the pain, my brain was swimming with many questions. How do six human bodies collide with a wall and break it? And a stone wall for that fact?

I glanced around at the others. They were in the same condition; aching muscles, rubbing their temples, and surprised looks. I looked up to see who had shot that beam of energy and no one was there.

Suddenly, a small stone began to glisten crimson. Then it grew twice its length before four limbs sprouted out of the base that was twice the size and width of my father' a head, fingers, and feet. We all backed away in fear at the monstrosity before us after that terrifying metamorphosis. It was a creature that towered above us at about 10 feet made of what appeared to be concrete.

"Dude!"

"Shit!"

"Bruh!"

"AHHHHH!"

"Save me, Jesus!"

"Holy Waffles!"

The creature known as Cinderblock wasted no time and charged right at us. We all shrieked and ran in different directions, away from each other. I dared a glance behind me and saw that Cinderblock was catching up to Victor, who was running quite slowly due to all the metal on his body. It captured him in its fist and Victor's eyes widened in terror. The others stopped running once that realized what was happening.

Then Cinderblock began tightening his grip on Victor, causing his face to turn blue. Suddenly, a flash of green zoomed by my peripheral vision and slammed right into Cinderblock's chest. The creature howled in pain and released Victor, stumbling back in pain. Victor and the blur dropped to the ground. I ran toward them but halted once I saw a ... green Tyrannosaurus Rex standing by him!

"Wha...how...why..." Tarassa murmured, clinging to Kori and Dick wh were too shocked to pull away. Overhead, a few streetlamps shattered, startled me even more, which caused them to melt in place. Those actions caused the others and the T-Rex to jump and soon it began changing...changing...into...Garfield?!

"Umm, how'd I do that?" A perplexed Garfield questioned while our jaws dropped in shock. Suddenly, a deafening roar from Cinderblock reminded us about its presence. I turned around just in time to see Cinderblock charging towards us. It launched itself up into the air and all I saw was a large concrete foot that rapidly descended toward me. I screamed and instinctively covered my head with my arms, bracing for impact, but it never came.

Tentatively, I opened my eyes, removed my arms from my head, and looked around and almost doubled over in shock. The others were equally shocked and stared at Kori in wonder, for she was **holding** Cinderblock's foot with her bare hands. Her face was red and sweat beaded her forehead and even she seemed as if she was stunned.

"How...why...what. The. Hell!" we all screeched at the same time. Cinderblock roared in frustration; shook the very ground we walked upon. It put more pressure on its foot and attempted to shove Kori down. Her features somehow got even redder but she seemed to be gaining strength, pushing the foot back with as much strength as Cinderblock was pushing it down.

"Go, Kori!" Dick shouted.

"You can do it, Kor!" Garfield cheered.

"I've gotcha girl!"Victor shouted as he started to join Kori and push with as much strength as he could gather. Garfield and Dick shared a glance before they participated in as well. Tarassa tared at me and looked away. "Come one," she gently nudged me as she joined in. I blinked and watched them as they grunted and pushed and struggled against the creature. "Holy waffles," I murmured under my breath before I reluctantly began to push back as well.

At first, nothing happened, but eventually, our force combined began to overpower Cinderblock force. Then with a massive grunt and heave, we finally launched the creation's foot away from us. We panted from muscle ache but Victor seemed so... exhilarated. He punched the air with his fist and soon Garfield joined him.

"I'm only gonna say this once: BOOYAH!"

Kori stared at her hands."I did not know I could do that." Tarassa tackled Kori and latched onto her arm. "It was a good thing you became The Hulk when you did 'cause we would have been pancakes by now. And I don't wanna die lookin' like a freak."

"Well, well. It seems as if you all still retained your original power," a velvety said from behind us. We all froze and slowly turned to see who had uttered those words. The person turned out to be a man that towered over us at about six feet and sported a mask. The mask's left side was orange with a single black outlined eyehole, while the right was black with no eyehole. There were also four parallel holes, two on each side, where I presumed his mouth was.

He wore what seemed to be a black body suit that covered his entire body except for his lower torso and forearms, which were gray. For his arms, he had black gauntlets, gray gloves, and a gray utility belt. He had overlapping armor in certain spots of his body. The first was a gray neck guard that went to his throat and to his chest, a guard on both shoulders, forearms, over his gauntlets, one for each of his thighs, knees, the top and soles of his feet and finally a gray sash wrapped horizontally around his torso. Cinderblock stood behind him, fidgeting and squirming as if he was itching to fight us.

"W-who are you?" Dick had the nerve to say. _Who is he, what is he?!_

"Oh? You don't recognize your most hated nemesis, Robin? Very disappointing," he reprimanded.

We all sent confused glances at each other before Dick said, "Listen, dude, there's no Robin here unless you're mispronouncing Raven's name." Garfield chuckled and shot a glare in his direction.

"Oh, Raven, how I have missed you. Us quiet ones should stick together." His strange comment made me take a step back.

"Terra, you have returned. I am honestly surprised that the Titans are fine with you being resurrected; Beast Boy especially. Honestly, boy, I am surprised that you still want to be in the vicinity as her after she broke your heart four times over."

"Umm, I think this dude is high on caffeine or crack," Tarassa whispered. We all snickered.

"Laugh while you can Titans, but know this," Suddenly he was nose to nose with me. "You are never safe because I am always watching and I know who you are." A chill went down my spine but I was frozen in place.

Then to Dick. "While you are laughing and smiling with your friends, know that I am plotting and waiting and watching."

Victor. "This resurrection has changed nothing. No one can protect you."

Garfield. "This life will be the same as your first. Fight or die. Plead and beg, but none will help you. Scream and cry but none will hear you."

Kori. "You cannot fight it. Fate cannot be changed. God may have given you a second chance but I will not."

Tarassa. " Fate doesn't care about your plans or heroes or what you want to do with your life. The good die early and the bad die late. There is no happy ending is life; the bitterest tragic element in life is a cruel fate. For man is man and master is fate. When you think to take determination of your fate into your hands, you will be crushed."

He sauntered away from Tarassa and left her in her horrified state. "Oh, and this will hurt." As if on cue a hot searing pain takes over my body and fall into unconsciousness

* * *

"Raven! Wake up sleepyhead, or you'll be late!"

I tossed and turned under the covers before I realized it was morning and the sunlight hit my eye. "Ahhh!"

"Daddy, why didn't you wake me up earlier? Now I'm late!" I ripped my clothes off before putting a black sweatshirt on.

"I did but each time you told me to go away!"

I grabbed my bag, not even looking to see if I had all my books and rushed out of the apartment and yelled a 'bye' before I left. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I ran to my school.

"Ehh, I had the strangest dream..."

 **To be continued...**


	3. Episode 2: Party GONE WRONG!

**_Tarassa P.O.V._**

It was a conventional Wednesday morning at Jump City High School: freshman fangirled over seniors, sophomores yelled 'Damn I hate this place! Fuck this hellhole!', juniors cheered 'We're almost there!' and us seniors said to freshman 'Bow before me bitches! We're top notch!'. As Tarassa roamed throughout the campus and waited for the bell to ring, her thoughts were murderous. When a girl saw her friend, she screamed, tackled her to the ground and they both started screaming.

She felt like screaming 'Stop screaming; you probably saw your friend yesterday!'.

Having been homeschooled in Europe most of her life, she didn't know much about how Americans were schooled.

She reached up to touch her necklace, then remembered that she gave it to that girl; Raven Whatchamacallit. The same girl who was in her dream the other night. Yeah, that's not creepy at the bell rang and everyone pulled a Lion King and stampeded for the doors. While almost dying, Tarassa witnessed a couple of senior fighting over a darned mechanical pencil. But she understood why they were so desperate for one.

In elementary school, when people find pencils they return them, in middle school, they start to question whether or not to return it. But in high school! When you find a functioning mechanical pencil with lead in it, you thank baby Jesus for bestowing a gift upon you.

She got to her locker without getting run over and low and behold, there was Raven Whatchamacallit. She honestly looked like a vampire when Tarassa first glanced at her. Dark brown eyes that look black, black lipstick, black eyeshadow, and raven hair. She was obviously what Americans called a 'Goth'. Today, Raven had on a sweatshirt that said, 'I'm so Goth, I shit bats'. She snort-laughed. Raven turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell happened to your jeans?"

Oh. Tarassa's jeans were torn at the knee area and her knees were scraped raw, so she bandaged them before going to school. If Raven thought that was bad, wait until she saw Tarassa's bruises. It wasn't her fault that she lost a fight between two fat kids at her bust stop. And besides, skinned knees and bruises are a part of everyday life.

"Lost a fight," she answered.

"Must have been some fight," Raven answered back.

"Yeah," Tarassa chuckled. "They thumped me into a telephone pole."

Raven was about to answer when her voice was drowned out by someone's voice. A guy's yelling. Suddenly, the sea of students parted and thanks to someone's legs, the blonde was shoved into my locker. She looked back at Raven, who seemed to not give a flying feather.

Squirming and wiggling through legs while trying not to be a perv, Tarassa sought to get a good glimpse of who was causing such a commotion. It was a boy with spiky black hair and piercing crystal blue eyes. He kinda looked like a punk and a boy next door at the same time with ripped jeans, skull T-shirt, fake glasses, Adidas, and a baseball cap. His name is Richie Something, maybe. As Tarassa squinted closer, she started to realize that he resembled the guy in her dream, like Raven, but that guy had a mask and was dressed as a freakin' traffic light.

"Party! Party at Wasabi Iris's house! MAJOR PARTY! DON'T MISS IT!"A few hostile teachers charged out of the room and proceeded to yell at Richie for yelling. How ironic. Tarassa went back to her task at hand.

* * *

I arrived in homeroom and it started as it usually did. Garfield yelled "Whaddup, Raven!" and I yelled back, "I hate you!"

Since I forgot to pack my Teen Titans novel, I decided to observe the idiocies of my classmates. The horrible thing about my homeroom was that Kori, Dick, Garfield, and Victor were with me as well or I like to call them, the wannabe Breakfast Club. At least they were entertaining. Currently, I was listening to a conversation between Garfield and Victor. But I felt strange staring at them because of that damn dream.

"Dude, did ya see a nipple? Cause if you saw a nipple, then that takes things to another level." Victor was clothed in his jersey and Air Jordans.

"Ew, nipple? Dude, what's wrong with you?" Garfield recoiled when he heard the word. I considered that he didn't like the subject of sex, especially with Victor Stone, the self-proclaimed Boob, and Ass Grabber. Yes, we're seniors and we still act like horny Juniors, don't judge us.

Victor laughed loudly and slapped his best friend on the back. "It's OK, bruh. I knew you wouldn't have it in ya. So if ya didn't get to do nipple, then what did ya get to do?"

Garfield smiled proudly. "I got boob."

His friend's eyebrows shot up and he stood up on a desk and vehemently yelled, "Clap for my nigga! Come on, clap! He got boobs!" All the guys whooped and all the girls either blushed or stuck their noses up in repugnance. Just then, Mr. Rumph entered the classroom and gave us the death glare. Immediately, we silenced ourselves. As I recollect, was a very intimidating professor, but he seemed to be the type of person that was not to be messed with.

"Shut your mouths and be seated! Victor Stone, bottom in a chair!" Victor Stone begrudgingly sat. The morning announcements came on and we recited the pledge as usual. After Principle BoatWright finished and the bell rang, we all rushed to 1st Period.I took my belongings and started to walk toward the door when Garfield Logan hindered me from leaving. I looked up at him.

"Move."

"Let me walk you to class, Raven."

"I'll repeat myself. Move."

"Not until you walk with me."

I groaned and looked around to make sure no one was watching. "Ok, but make it quick."

We exited the room and as usual, the hallway was packed like sardines.

"Why are you walking me to1st period? You don't even like me," I yelled over all the noise as I pushed someone away from me.

"You're right; I don't. I just want to know if you'll come to Wasabi's party because a lot of people are coming and we need to know the exact amount."

"No," I was right in front of my Calculus classroom and was about to enter when he grabbed my wrist.

"Come on Raven. You need to make friends."

I twisted away. "Don't tell me how to make friends; you don't know anything." And with that, I walked inside.

* * *

 _ **Garfield P.O.V.**_

The last bell of the day sounded and all of the kids rushed out, cheering and howling with laughter. It was a Friday after all.

Gar tackled Vic to the ground and howled with laughter. "Sorry, dude, but I gotta go. Sissy's waiting for me."

"Who the hell is 'Sissy'?" Vic took his best friend in a headlock.

"Tarassa. You know, the blonde that I've been talking about at lunch!" He countered with a punch.

"Oh, Stick Legs. I thought you had a crush on Raven."

Gar hurried off of him. "That was freshman through junior year, dude! Get your facts straight!"

"Look, bruh," Vic stood. "You asked Raven out and she said no and since then, you've been datin' less than average girls."

"Sissy isn't average. She looks like Chloë Grace Moretz," Gar said a matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, like she's _so_ freakin' attractive."

"She is! Now, see ya, I gotta take her to the convenience store." Gar started to walk away.

"That's lame, dude. Take her to Wasabi Iris's party!" Victor yelled.

"I'll try, man. See ya!" He ran to the front of the school and the only people that were still there was the loiterers and freshmans that were waiting for their parents to pick them up. There she was; staring at her cerulean converse.

"Hey, Sissy!" he called out to the blonde. She looked up and brightened immediately and walked over to him. He inspected her appearance. Messy, tangled blonde hair in a bun; ripped jeans; workout jacket. Chapped pastel lips that seemed to go with her azure eyes. Almost as pretty as Rae.

"Hey, Gar! Are ya ready to go to the convenience store?" She punched his arm. Geez, that hurt. This chick was strong.

"Yeah, let's go!" And so, they started to walk there.

"So, where'd ya transfer from?" he asked her immediately.

"Europe," she said casually.

"Wait. Europe?! Dude! Are you like a princess or something?" She giggled.

"Nope. Just a girl who comes from a family that travels a lot."

"Yeah, anyway, do you want to go to a party?" he asked hopefully.

She stared at him. "Wasabi Iris's party?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Everyone is gonna be there; even Raven." He didn't mean that last part. Raven was a social hermit. She probably talked to herself while she was in the bathroom.

Sissy smiled. "Sure." They reached the convenience store in no time and right away, Tarassa squealed in delight.

"Oh, a tiny store that sells food; we didn't have these in Europe!" Then she ran off down the aisle and grabbed all the snacks she could fit in her arms. She could get lost... Eh, what the frick, it's a convenience store.

He went to where the soda, beer, and chips were. Super spicy Cheetos, Coca-Cola, geez. Every good thing in life either makes you fat, drunk, or pregnant. He grabbed two family sized bags and two two-liter sodas.

"Garfield!" Sissy ran up to him, her arms overflowing with bags of Skittles, Lifesavers, M&M's, Gushers, etc. He sweatdropped. How the heck was he gonna pay for all of her snacks?"This place is awesome! It has, like, every snack and candy I could ever imagine!"

He just nodded and led her to the pay counter. The cashier was an Asian guy. His eyes widened when he saw all that Sissy had in her arms. Garfield felt like saying, 'At least you don't have to pay for all of it, dude.' She dropped all of it down and he begrudgingly put his things down. After ten minutes of scanning _ALL_ of them, the total came as... $63.50! Gar had a mini heart attack. How would he pay? He only had a twenty.

"Here ya go, sir," Sissy said with a hundred bucks in her hand! The cashier bagged the items and gave Sissy her change. She handed Gar his bags, despite his flabbergasted expression. She pocketed her change, opened a bag of Trolli, and walked out of the store.

He followed her, not knowing where she was going. "Hurry up, slowpoke. You gotta take me to Wasabi Something's party." Just as she said that a white van pulled up to the curb, waiting for them to get in. A white classic pedophile-looking van.

Sissy started to look weirded out at that point, because probably her mom, like many moms, told her to never get into a stranger's car. Far less, a white creepy van. It was in the beginner's guide to strangers: Strangers the thing was, that the pedophile van belonged to Vic. Yes, he knew how creepy and suspicious it looked, but did he give a hoot? Heck no. So without thinking of Sissy at all, Gar climbed into the passenger's seat and the side of the van slid open.

* * *

 _ **Richard P.O.V.**_

The blonde girl stood there, frozen as if unsure of what to do and he sure as hell couldn't blame her. He was among the four guys sitting in the back, consisting of him, Garth Paulson, Roy Harper, and Joseph Wilson. Usually, they wouldn't have invited Joseph because of how much of a party pooper he was, but Vic insisted.

Richard watched as the guys, except for Joseph, kept trying to persuade her to get into the van. They were like, "Come on, it'll be fun!". He was surprised they didn't pull candy out their pockets to lure her inside.

That was when Vic started to sing _very_ loudly, "MY CANDY BRINGS ALL THE KIDS TO MY VAN". He snickered and the guy howled in laughter, except for Gar and looked as if she was just about to say 'no' when Roy grabbed her arm and pulled her into the van. Without wasting a second, Vic stepped on the gas and drove to Wasabi's house. She was seated between him and looked at her face. She looked terrified. Well, at least she was supposed to. The blonde was munching on Cheetos, so he couldn't tell.

"So, what's your name, Blondie?" Roy asked.

"Oh, uh, Tarassa," she answered without even covering her mouth, so we could see the Cheeto dust on her teeth and lips. Richard almost gagged; what an animal!

"Somebody better call the police because it must be illegal for one girl to be that good looking," Garth said which resulted in a groan.

"That was lame, Garth," Vic said. Vic was right and besides, this girl didn't look attractive at all; not at all like Kori. Don't get him wrong; he knew Kori wasn't the only attractive girl in the school, but this girl seemed so... Boyish.

Her face had acne and her lips were cracked. Her body was weird planes and angles of hard muscle and she was flat chested. How Gar found this girl attractive was beyond him.

The rest of the trip, the guys kept asking Terra questions and Roy told dirty nipple jokes. Vic and Gar sang 'Sweet Caroline'. After about thirty minutes, they saw trees and woods, which meant they were close to Wasabi's house. After about fifteen more minutes, Vic finally pulled up in front of Wasabi's large house.

They all got up, kicked through the wrappers of Tarassa's snacks, walked up to the house. It was more of a mansion knocked on the door and Wasabi opened it and smiled. "Come in, guys. You're the first ones here." Crap, now we've got to make conversation with this guy and not make it awkward.

Gar, Roy, Garth, Vic, and I sat on the floor and Tarassa sat on the couch. All of a sudden, we all heard a hissing sound near the couch area. Tarassa looked down and sitting on on the cushion to her left was a big, fat cat.

"Aw, who's this cutie," Tarassa cooed as she attempted to pick the cat up. It immediately hissed at her and bared its teeth and she backed away.

"Oh, don't worry, that's just Toby," Wasabi chuckled as he examined the bags of chips and soda Gar bought.

She frowned."Well, is he gonna bite me, because if that is the case, I will move."

Wasabi smiled. "Well, you are sitting on Toby's couch. It is his own territory you know." Tarassa gave us a 'can you believe this guy' look but we all shrugged. Richard hated Toby the Cat when he first met him too, but he had gotten used to Toby the Cat. Besides, Wasabi spoiled that damn cat like it was an actual child. He even gave the damn cat its own large leather couch. It was Toby's couch.

So, Teresa just stood up and sat with Richard.

* * *

 _ **Victor P.O.V.**_

The doorbell rang and Gar ran to open it like a hot chick was on the other side. Five smelly white dudes walked in with mothereffin' bongo drums.

"Yo, why the hell did y'all bring damn bongo drums to a party?" Vic asked.

"You see, what had happened was..." one of the black guys said before they burst into laughter. Then the dudes sat in a circle and invited us and the Stick Legs to join them. We accepted and for the next half hour, they all sat in a circle as they played bongo drums. It was a tribal gathering. Vic could feel the spirit of drums within him. He never cared more about bongo drums in his entire life.

"Umm, guys, why are you doing this anyway?" Stick Legs voiced my thoughts.

"Oh, it's, um, sort of a little ritual the guys and I do before a party. It blesses the house and keeps the vibes flowing you know? It just keeps the spirits high and keeps people happy, you know?"Stick Legs rolled her eyes.

Soon after, the doorbell rang and a few jocks and cheerleaders Vic knew entered the room and soon there were about twenty people in the house. They turned the music on, brought out Gar's snacks and party kinda started at that moment.

At that moment Vic went up and to Wasabi and said, "Wasabi, my man, where am I gonna be sleeping for the night?" Usually, after a party, he'd snuck back home before his Mama found out he was missing and said, ' You better party yo ass up to your room before I get there.'But Wasabi's house was so far, he had to spend the night.

Wasabi smiled and walked Vic into his brother Mike's room. There was so much damn laundry, he had to swim to get to the damn bed. The window was opened, which caused a draft and caused mosquitoes to wander in and worst of all there were used smiley face boxers on the bed that smelled like ass. Fresh ass.

Vic turned to his friend. " Dude, you ain't got nothin' better?"

"Nah, dude unless you wanna sleep on the floor, that's pretty much it." Vic nodded. Whatever. He'd sleep in the crappy bed and shower for three hours in the morning. So he went back to the party and enjoyed himself. Thirty minutes went by before a guy in a Spiderman costume and five girls walked in.

* * *

 _ **Kori**_

Kori tried to pretend like she couldn't see the stares of all the partygoers and just focused on Joey in his weird costume.

Gar went up to him as if it was normal to wear a Spiderman costume at a party. "Nice costume, dude," he said.

"Yeah, thanks, I'm Spiderman," Joey said as if it were obvious.

"Dude, I can see that. Love the costume."

"It's not a costume. I'm actually Spiderman." Everyone laughed once he said that.

"Dude!" Gar was clutching his sides. " How many drinks have you had?" Soon the laughter died down and the partygoers once again focused their attention on them. She really couldn't blame them; they were wearing pretty much nothing. A small leave would have covered them more than what they were wearing.

Zoe walked ahead and led them all to the table with vodka shots. She ignored the shot glass and just grabbed the bottle and began to chug it like vodka was juice. The other girls followed cheered and went back to enjoying themselves. A blonde girl walked up to them and said, "Slow it down, guys. Slow it down."

Isis glared at her. "Who do you think you are? We can drink as much as we want to. Oh my goodness..."

Kori stared at the blonde. She looked awfully familiar. The blonde shrugged and walked away. "Come on Kori," Dejah urged as she began to pick up a bottle. Kori shook her head and just watched as they slowly got drunk.

Half an hour later, they all wanted to go skinny dipping. If they were sober, would they do this? No. Well, actually, yes. Nevermind. And Kori could only think of one place they could do this in. Due to being close friends with Wasabi, she knew that he had a swamp in his backyard. It definitely wasn't a pond because the water was green and there was visible mush in the water.

They stumbled through the crowd and walked out to the back and ran into that swamp without a care in the world. They splashed and danced as if it was the water at the beach. Ten minutes later, they came out of the water looking like female Shreks. They laughed hysterically once they saw each other and ran back into the house and Kori followed suit.

Once she entered the house though, there was some very... _Visible_ damage. Two lamps were broken, Toby the Cat was _eating_ the bongo drums, some dude had put Silly String on everything, and the bath was overflowing into the TV room.

Kori went up to Wasabi and said, "Look, Wasabi, I think we should start cleaning this up 'cause in the morning, this is gonna be a disaster."

He smiled and shook his head. "No, no, no. Just let it happen. Let it happen, Kori."Like, dayumn! Once his parents came back, he'd be screwed.

Suddenly, a booming laugh broke out. Kori looked in the direction it came from. The blonde girl was on top of a table chugging vodka. She looked like she had a hard night in Vegas.

"I WANNA GO TO THE SWAAAMP!" Her drunken cry made all the guest howl in laughter. Then the blonde jumped off and ran toward the doors. Everyone trailed behind her, Garfield especially. This girl, however, was so intoxicated that she could barely make it to the swamp. She kept tripping over her legs and falling into the mud, resulting in wild laughter.

"I wanna swim with turtles! I wanna swim with turtles!" she cried, flailing her arms. Finally, after stumbling and falling, the blonde dove into the water. One, two, three seconds went by and she didn't come up. _Oh, crap, she's dead._

Jumping into action, Garfield and four other guys removed their shirts and jumped into the murky water to rescue her. They lifted her out of the water, cradling her body while she punched and screamed and kicked them.

"No, let go! I wanna swim!" the tiny blonde screamed. Obviously, the guys were much stronger than her and were able to lift her up and take her out of the water. She kept kicking and screaming, however, so Wasabi went up to them and said, "Put her in my trampoline. Let her out when she calms down.

 _"Laisse-moi aller, pervers!"_ Blondie screeched in French. _"Je vais appeler la police!"_ So, as they did that, everyone went back inside chuckling and shaking their heads to find out that two parents had arrived. Obviously Wasabi's. And they were livid. The music was blasting, things were broken in the house, water from the bathtub was everywhere, there were girls walking around who looked like Shrek, it just wasn't a good scene.

The father yelled at the top of his lungs, "ALL OF YOU, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! GET OUT RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CALL THE POLICE!"

Everyone screamed and hauled ass out the door and toward their cars.

* * *

Two figures ran through the woods, plowing through trees, shoving past branches and snapping them off from how hard they pushed. The noise was getting closer, closer! They stopped suddenly and crouched beside the nearby bushes.

"This is them, right?" asked the larger one.

"Yes, this is them," the smaller replied.

"Finally, we don't have anything to worry about. Finally, we have found the Titans."

The larger raised his eyebrow. "Why do we require them so badly?"

"Because," the smaller answered. "now we have the means to stop the Silence."


	4. Episode 3: Ying and yang

The scorching sun beat down from the turquoise sky, gleaming off the distant buildings of Residential Jump City. The streets were filled people walking, drinking tea and gossiping, laughing, and visiting friends. Old men played Rummy, Bridge, and Canasta outside of the popular, local Starbucks; children played on the sidewalks or at the park.

Couples walked down Inman Park carrying slushies sold from the afternoon vendors. Life was noisy and exuberant in Jump City.

Well, not everywhere in Jump City. In another part of town, the streets were silent as shadow and black as death. It was not safe for any of the gaily people from the other side of town to be there. Even the locals tended to stay indoors or stick to the unseen alleyways and secret passages that riddled the areas out of view from the streets.

Here the white walls of the buildings were faded and pitted, mud peeling away from their brick underlayers in great swaths. Hald built wood structures were the only evidence of the past mayor's dream to improve the district, to widen the roads, to build better schools. After he died, the whole project was dropped. Now the skeletal remains of his grand plan whistled in the wind like corpses.

It was the Quarter of the Titans.

This was where thieves, beggars, murderers, and the poorest of the poor lived. The children no one wanted, the adults no one would hire for any kind of honest work, all of them made their homes there. The orphaned, the unlucky, the sick, and the discarded. It was a whole other Jump City.

Among the huts, a tall shadow moved quickly, running and jumping to and from roofs.

"Safe!" Richard said with a grin, clutching his dearly gotten treasure. He took a quick look over the edge of the building to make sure no one saw him up there, his tan arms flexing with easy strength as he held his chest off the rough bricks. Then he sat down, ready to bite his piece of heaven.

His large, clear blue eyes twinkled in happy expectation."One loaf of bread, more valuable than all the cold, glittering gems at Forrester."

 _"Stop, thief!"_

Richard leaped up. Somehow, the police had managed to follow his this time. Two had made it up, anyway, with an enraged Officer Reagan following close behind. Despite their run-ins, Richard had to admit how much the man had risen through the ranks.

But that didn't mean Richard liked him.

 _"I'll have your hands for a trophy, Birdboy!"_ he bellowed. He puffed as he dragged his body up.

"All this for a bread?" Richard whispered to himself, exasperated. The grocery store couldn't possibly miss _one_ loaf of bread, but apparently, the police could. He was one of Jump City's biggest thieves, which was why he wore a mask.

Richard leaped off the side of the building. The officers stopped short, shocked at what seemed like an incredibly, deadly insane act, while a barely nervous Richard plummeted down toward the streets, grabbing at the clotheslines he knew would be there.

It only resulted in his face being hit by clean laundry and rope burns as he slowed his descent. When it became too painful to bear, he let go and landed in a bruising, bony crash on the dusty street.

There was no time to reflect on his safety; he had to plan his next move. Richard ducked into what looked like a crack in the city itself, where two buildings crumbled and tilted into each other. He kept running through courtyards, run-down tunnels, and secret passageways.

He stopped at a decrepit cul-de-sac to catch his breath. He couldn't run anymore; his hunger was getting to him. He settled down at the base of a wall. But just as he was about to take a big, welcoming bite, a clatter of something hitting the pavement stopped him.

He expected the police.

He expected to run again.

He _didn't_ expect to see a small, skinny girl. She jumped, afraid of the noise she has made herself while picking through garbage, looking for something to eat.

"This is my place."

He wasn't sure where that came from, but he couldn't stop himself.

The girl turned to gaze her blue eyes at him. She was the girl from school - the transfer student Gar had a crush on. Deep creases decorated his brows as he watched her through narrow eyes, trying to act like he wasn't too pleased to see her.

"I didn't know this was yours", she said. Her voice was strong but her lip quivered slightly, indicating her fear.

"Well it is, so go away." His word were cold, short, and mean. Forgetting about his bread, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He lighted one cigarette and blew a long, heavy puff of smoke. Then as though he just remember she was in the vicinity, his eye drifted back to her.

"What are you still doing here?" She recoiled at his unnecessary harsh tone.

"I..." she wasn't quite sure what to say. "I was looking for food."

He laughed, none too pleased with her answer. "You don't look like the type to be doing that, kid." He drew another breath from his cig and blew out into the humid air, when her voice answered, sharper and colder than before.

"You don't know anything about me."

For a split second, that caught him off guard. His cigarette stopped on the way to his lips, as he turned to look at the girl in front of him, giving her his undivided attention. He raised an eyebrow, the corner of his lips turned up to form a rather taunting smile.

"Maybe. Care to enlighten me?"

"It's none of your business," she said with an air of disdain, which made him halt even further.

"Do you live here?" she asked curiously.

"Not quite, where I live is usually not this shitty." He smoked another long drag. "Oh - sorry." He pulled the pack out and held it in front of her. "You smoke?"

"Sorry, I don't-" The sound of her growling stomach interrupted her sentence. She dropped down to her knees, clutching her belly, stifling a moan. "You, OK?" he said gently, surprising him and her.

"I haven't eaten is all. I'll be fine." He knew she wouldn't be fine. He knew that soon as he left, she'd scavenge the other trash cans, desperately searching for a hidden treasure, then not finding one and going to bed hungry and more discouraged than yesterday. Every Titan had gone through that passage, that way of life. That's why he did it. That's why he gave her his bread.

His breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He wanted to give her the kindness he wished someone has given him when he was that vulnerable. He prayed that she would one day return the act to another Titan.

"Thank you." Her smile was genuine and wide, something rare in his parts. He nodded solemnly and walked away, shielding his small smile from her.

* * *

 **Garfield P.O.V.**

Gar rubbed his sore back and arms to lessen the pain and wiped the fresh tears from his eyes. It will get better, it will get better, it will get better. He kept walking toward the Starbucks on McDowell street; he had to get away. When the coffeehouse came into view, Gar began to run toward it.

Just as he was about to open the door, however, someone on the other side opened it suddenly. He tripped over the threshold and fell on top of them.

"Geez, watch where you're going!" Wait a minute... the person was...Raven!

"Excuse me?" she scowled from under me. "Watch where you're going, you clumsy doofus!" She grabbed Gar's shirt and with surprising strength, threw him off her, and walked out into the street. Blushing furiously, he followed his former (as if) crush outside.

"Rae, wait!" he called after her. She briskly turned around.

"What?"

She wore a black tank top, black jeans, combat boots, a crescent moon belt and a necklace. Wow, she looked so cute.

"Let me walk you home," he hoped that she'd say yes. Without even contemplating the offer for a second, she said, "No." and walked away.

"Aw, come on Rae!" He ran to catch up with her. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not going home; I'm going to Barnes and Noble."

"Great! I'll walk with you!" Raven groaned and walked faster. "So, anyway, do you have a favorite color?" She ignored him.

"Middle name?" Silence.

"Ever used a razor to shave your cheek?" Silence once again. "Come on Rae, talk to me!"

The raven-haired female turned around to glare at him. He skidded to a stop once he saw her terrifying expression. They stayed that way for a couple of seconds before the duo resumed walking in silence.

* * *

The two figures ran as fast as they could to Jump City High School without being suspicious. As soon as the buildings came into view, they slowed their pace. The smaller of the duo looked around to make sure no civilians were watching. Using their telekinesis, they opened the front door and went inside.

They scurried through the corridors until the pair reached the school's cafeteria door and unlocked it. They walked inside to their destination: the janitor's closet. A white aura began to glow around the smaller person, their eyes flashed. The same glow surrounded the door of the room before the magic pulsed and finally, it disappeared.

Twisting the knob, the door opened to reveal a long flight of stairs that descended into darkness. Nodding to the other as if it was a signal to follow her, the smaller woman began her journey down the flight of stairs. The other followed closely behind.

After what had seemed like an eternity, the pair finally came to the start of a lengthy tunnel. Drawing dull breaths, the girls began their trek, their steel boots clanging against the small railroad tracks beneath them. Lastly, they came to large French doors.

Using her magic once again, the smaller girl opened the doors and both of them walked inside.

It was a dark, wide cavern with great, wide pillars that upheld the spacious ceiling. A court of monsters and other entities from the most eldritch corners of the Earth were gathered before their queen.

The larger girl looked up at their leader. Her eyes were cold, unyielding sapphires that matched her hair. She sat on her plain stone throne that rested on a stone platform, above the rest of the court. She rapped her fingernails against the granite armrest and ran a finger through her long, azure curls. Her skin was the color of ivory. Truly, she was beautiful.

"Genesis, where are those fools, Athena and Mimete?" she demanded. "They should have been here an hour ago! I need that latest report before noon."

Genesis batted her long eyelashes innocently and profusely. She adjusted the small crown on her head.

"I don't know, my queen. Maybe _something_ unfortunate happened to them." She batted them ten more times.

"We are right here, Your Majesty," Athena spoke up. The short girl and her taller companion, Mimete, walked up to their liege.

"You both took your sweet time," Genesis muttered as she pulled out a nail file.

Ignoring her, the girls opted to address their liege with a bow.

"Forgive our lateness, Queen Arella, I had to explain many things to my new student," Athena said, her head now held high.

Arella glared at the minor. "That is a less-than-good excuse, but it will suffice. Ensure that it will not happen again. Now begin your report. Have you found them?" She rested her head back and closed her eyes, preparing to listen.

"Yes, I have found the Teen Titans. It was last night. Mimete and I had just concluded my meeting with Slade Wilson. We were about to leave, he located their civilian whereabouts. We followed his directions and confirmed it. However-"

Arella's features lit up and in her joy, did not allow Athena to finish."Wonderful!"

"Your Majesty..." Athena ran her fingers through her wavy, cerulean hair. Did she really want to tell her? "... The Gem is gone."

Every ounce of happiness in Arella's eyes dissipated immediately and was replaced by controlled anger boiling underneath the exterior of her calm eyes. Genesis smirked and stepped back. When Athena was executed, she wouldn't want any mush on her skirt, now would she?

"...Athena, what happened?" Arella's voice was barely audible.

The bluenette remained calm. "Well, according to Slade, the night the Teen Titans became active again, Aazar's Gem... vanished."

A thick silence hung in the air for more than a minute. Arella froze and fell back to her throne, her eyes wide with terror. "No...no...no..." she murmured quietly, disregarding the worried stares from her minions.

Genesis rolled her eyes, Mimete seemed confused as to why their supposed queen was acting like a child, and Athena fidgeted nervously.

Arella closed her eyes and forced her breathing to level out. She was a queen; she could handle this. She had to.

"Mimete!"

The larger girl changed her expression and stood erectly. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I want you to inform Cerium, Nemesis, and Senshi about this latest revelation; they can stop searching for the Titans. Also, you recently sent me your latest discovering concerning your Soul Mirror. Very impressive and beneficial. You will begin immersing yourself in the human world, using your mirror to find the sinful souls of humans to feed to the Master."

The ginger nodded her head without speaking any further.

Arella looked at Genesis.

"Genesis, you will speak to Slade once again. Do not return until he has given you ample information concerning Azar's Gem and its whereabouts. If he does not cooperate, remind him of our deal."

Finally to Athena.

"Athena, as the leader of these operations, I want you to observe the Teen Titans in their civilian forms. Observe their personalities. When they are least expecting it, have Cinderblock attack them to see how they are with their newly awakened powers."

The trio nodded simultaneously. Arella sighed. It's going to be alright; today and tomorrow are looking bright.

"Dismissed."

The trio walked out of the dimension. Arella's lips curled into a small smile. Soon, everything they worked for would come to fruition.

* * *

 **Kori P.O.V.**

Kori sighed in frustration. She did _not_ want to be in a Barnes and Noble on the first Saturday of December. She was supposed to be at Target, buying decorations for her room and wrapping paper for the holy holiday.

Her ELA teacher, Mr. Collier, had assigned a book for her class and she was _not_ going to touch one of his books, so she decided to buy her own. But it was taking _way_ too long to find this damn book. What if someone saw her? Her reputation as a party girl would be ruined.

Soon, she found the book and began to walk toward the register when the doors of the bookstore opened to reveal... Raven Roth and Gar Logan. V _erdammt,_ v _erdammt,_ v _erdammt_ _!_ Kori sprinted away from the cashier and behind a bookshelf.

Tentatively, she peeked behind the row of books. Why the hell was Raven, the basket-case, and Gar, the school's clown, and prankster going out? Oh, who cares? She needed to get out of there.

Their voices were drawing nearer, so she ran behind a bin toward the entrance. Then to the rack of pen and diaries. When she thought the coast was clear, she began to sprint toward the exit when...

"Kori?"

Damn it! She was so close! She put on a fake smile and turned around.

"Gar!" she exclaimed, her voice in a lower tone.

"Kori, I didn't expect you to be here!" She noticed that he was rubbing his arm profusely.

"Hi, Raven!" she said in a sickly sweet voice. The shorter female barely acknowledged the ginger and walked away, deeper into the store.

Gar ran after her and Kori followed closely behind the two, confused as to why they were even in the same vicinity. Raven hated Gar and Kori was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Besides, the new blonde transfer student, Tarassa, was better for him. They were both blondes, blue-eyed short people.

She just had to know what they were up gut honestly told her to leave them alone, but she thought about what Zoe and Isis would do.

If she told them that she didn't want to spy on them, they wouldn't be very happy. And Kori wanted to make them happy, so she followed the pair.

Raven was in the horror department; it was filled with Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc.

The goth closed her eyes and moved around, slowly feeling the spines of the novels. Kori and Gar watched her curiously. Suddenly, Ice Queen's eyes flew open and she pulled a random book from the shelve, startling the wits out of Gar. Then in a low, Darth Vadar voice, Raven said, "This is the one."

Kori and Gar started laughing so hard, clutching their sides. Ice Queen glared at the pair and walked away. "Hey, hey! Rae- Raven wait. We weren't laughing!" The blond ran after her and Kori followed, a little exasperated. What was Gar, a dog? Did he have to follow the girl who hated him around like she was his owner?

Ice Queen turned around abruptly, fury in her brown pupils.

"Listen, _Garfield_ ," she spat the name out as if it were venom. "we're not friends, so stop following me around like I'm your damn friend. I cannot formulate an expression using tangible words from any language that would even begin to express how much you piss me off. "

She turned to the ginger with equal anger.

"And _you_. You've got some nerve following me around with him, just to see if we were dating. So, in the tamest way possible, remove your nose from my business and leave me the fuck alone."

Kori was surprised at how she was figured out so soon, but she wouldn't back down.

"Well, Ice Queen, FYI I was just looking out for my dear friend because I didn't want you hurting him, you hoe!"

Ice Queen chuckled darkly. "Oh, Kori, I wouldn't go there if I were you. A hoe's job is to satisfy everyone she meets; that's basically me describing your entire being."

Kori gasped.

* * *

 **Athena P.O.V.**

The bluenette gazed down at the bickering teenagers. The so-called Teen Titans. But if she remembered correctly, there were supposed to be five of them. At the moment there was only Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy.

Cyborg and Robin were not present at the moment, so she needed to locate them immediately. Athena returned to the present once their argument got louder and a human walking over to them, shushing their fight. Pulling out her notebook, the cerulean haired girl began recording her observations.

 _Day One: Entry one_

 _Observation:_

 _It appears as if the Teen Titans, Raven, and Starfire, do not get along well in their civilian identities. They have conflicting personalities that put them at odds with each other. Judging from their demeanors and insults, they have known each other for a significant amount of time. Beast Boy seems to harbor past romantic feelings for the violet-haired girl and Starfire is very protective of Beast Boy as if he was her little brother._

 _Starfire has been called a hoe by Raven and is said to want to satisfy everyone. Beast Boy-_

Athena looked up when the yelling ceased. The trio was being escorted out. Once she pocketed her journal, Athena followed behind.

The streets were crowded so, Athena craned her neck to see. She immediately spotted Raven's dark hair and systematically weaved through the mob. Suddenly, a large body mass bumped into her, sending her teetering into a stranger. Her skin scraped against the ground as they rolled onto the scorching asphalt. Eventually, they came to a rest.

Her breath was ragged from the sudden jolt of energy; she tried to slow her heart. She looked down at down at the girl she had unintentionally pinned under to the pavement. A tiny blonde girl with her eyes closed.

Finally, her blue eyes blinked open revealing emotions of pain, anger, and shock. "Get. Off. Me," she growled. Athena complied. The girl stood up and brushed the gravel off. Athena examined the girl's appearance. She was the Forgotten Titan: Terra. But that was not significant; she was an unofficial Titan.

"Hey, are you OK?" The blonde pointed at Athena's arm. She looked down at an open scrape on her arm. It was nothing to be concerned about; the healers could fix her arm in under a minute.

"Yes. Goodbye." She turned to leave when the Terra look-alike grabbed her arm. "You dropped your notebook."

"Thank you." Her smile was small and her eyes were innocent. She held out her hand. "Tarassa Markov."

She shook it. "... Lillian Blue... nice to meet you."

* * *

Slade sat patiently on his throne-like chair. His office was unlike most, full of large computer screens, newspaper clippings, books and a towering mirror. Vain, but beautiful Genesis sat across from him, her finger idly twirling her hair.

At the moment Slade was reviewing video footage from Forrester's video camera and he drummed his fingers impatiently on his chair's armrest. He shut the laptop and stared squarely at the girl in front of him.

"My technology is useless in this current situation. Can you now try your mirror?"

Genesis took out her treasured possession.

"Mirror, mirror, with your beautiful glow, show me what occurred three days ago."

The coral-colored reflector's surface glimmered brightly as pixels began to form on the screen. Eventually, they created a scene. Slade looked down to observe. Raven was screaming, her voice somehow triggering the Gem to react. Then the treasure seemed to distort. Genesis squinted. The Gem was deforming, the object splitting away into smaller pieces.

Slade nearly gasped. Suddenly, the smaller pieces disappeared and the scene cut out, the mirror returned to normal.


	5. Episode 4:The Lies We Tell Ourselves

**A/N: So anyway, I wanted to start this chapter/ episode off by saying that I have realized that Victor has no development. But that's OK because I'm going to set up his character soon, but bear with me. Also in the coming chapters, the plot will start picking up soon.**

* * *

Being a morning person was never my forte. It just baffled me at how preppy bitches like Kori Anders and her entire gang could be so...preppy. If I wanted to see annoying bright-eyed and bushy-tailed creatures, I would have gone and found a squirrel. And besides, there was nothing to be happy about in the morning. But I could be a morning person... if morning happened around noon.

Anyway, after our smackdown at Barnes and Noble, I returned to school on Monday just to be greeted by people whispering my name, pointing and cackling quietly. Even teachers noticed it. But, Princess Sparkle Thong had the audacity to come over to my desk during homeroom, her Ronald Mcdonald hair flying everywhere, her fraudulent kindness all summed up in the fakest smile I've ever seen since the day Zoe and Isis accepted her into their group.

"Hiii, Rae-Rae! Whatcha doing?" I almost laughed at her fake friendliness. I lifted my head up to look at the ginger. She was in her cheer uniform and had two long pigtails.

"You know Kori, it's funny how you're nice to my face. It's hilarious how you talk shit behind my back. And it's downright comical when you think I don't know."

Practically everyone in the room turned to observe us after my comment. Princess was taken aback for a minute before she responded with another statement.

"Raven, I don't have to say anything bad about you behind your back. People are always talking about you because you are anti-social and have no friends."

"Kori, I'm not anti-social. I just do not want to waste my time with drama or fake people like you."

The bell rang and everyone who wasn't in 's AP English class gathered their possessions and left. walked over to Princess, his expression hard.

"Miss Anders, remove yourself from my class and go to your first period," he said. Glaring at me, Kori gathered up her property and left.

* * *

Victor sighed deeply as he tiredly trekked through the hall, his bookbag strapped over one shoulder and his black hair tousled. After taking his books from his locker, the jock entered his math class.

"Victor, you're late!" Ms. Jackson-Howson said immediately.

"I know." He gave her his pass and sat down in his seat at the back of the classroom.

"This is the fifth time this month. Is everything OK?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

He nodded silently. Sighing, Jackson-Howson stood up and began to talk about the homework. Victor rubbed his temples. Damn, his headache was getting worse. He shouldn't have gone to bed at three o'clock last night.

Unable to take the pain any longer, he put his head down and tried to drown out the noise of his math class. wouldn't care if he slept in class anyway. It was early December of senior year. A few more months and they'd be gone.

"Victor!" A loud yell interrupted his sleepy thoughts. The jock snapped his head up.

"Yeah?"

"Question 4; demonstrate the answer."

"Oh, right." Barely managing to stand on his feet, he got up and walked to the board. He picked up an Expo marker and pressed it to the whiteboard, racking his brain to formulate an answer. After five minutes, he drew the answer he assumed was correct and looked at his teacher for confirmation.

She nodded and he sighed in relief. That was an easy question; he was supposed to get it right away. He wasn't studying hard enough.

For the remainder of the class, he slept and managed to replenish some of his strength by the end of it. As usual, he stayed after class asking about extra credit.

frowned. "Victor, you already have the highest grade in this class. You don't need extra credit."

"Yes, I do," he insisted. "I need something to fall back on in case I start to slack off."

Shaking her head, she handed him a packet. "This is the extra credit; you'll notice that it is harder than our current material."

He nodded. "Thank you."

"Victor, are you sure you're not working too hard?" she asked, creasing her brows in worry.

The boy sighed exasperatingly. The had had this conversation before. "I'm not." And with that final statement, he left.

* * *

Kori pulled the metal lever and the sound filled the cramped cubicle. She was about to open the cubicle door when suddenly she heard familiar chirping voices, the voices of certain brunettes she had been friends with since sophomore year.

Zoe and Isis.

And surprisingly, she heard her best friends say her name.

"That Kori, " Zoe said with such a malicious tone that made Kori wince. She had never heard her name being spoken that way before. "She is such a _bitch_."

"What happened this time?" Isis asked.

"All this time she has pretty much been casting Richard off her sight - you know how they've been having problems, and she's been ignoring him all the while - God knows why that snob probably thinks she's better than all the creatures on the planet!" Zoe slammed her bag angrily on the surface of the sink as she continued to speak furiously. "And now... now she suddenly asked him to got out on a date with her! _That freaking slut!_ After all the time I've spent to at least get Richard to look at me, she just _had_ to jump in!"

"What? Are you serious?" Isis shrieked, her voice too excited to be considered normal. "Wow... that sucks. Must be tough for you. We all know Richard just wants Kori."

"Shut up, Isis!" replied Zoe fiercely to her friend.

"That _bitch_ , just what does she want? If she thinks she can walk in and steal away Richard just when he started to warm up to me...," Zoe's hateful voice continued to chatter.

"But Kori doesn't know you're into Richard, does she, Zo-zo?" Isis cut Zoe off before she could finish. Inside the cubicle, Kori got very, very sick. Zoe, crushing over Richard? She didn't realize. She didn't even think that Zoe would feel that way about him - until now.

"She's too think to know it, that's why!" came Zoe's cruel words. Kori raised her palms to block her ears so that she didn't have to hear them any longer - but such strong word of hatred bear the deadliest poison, and though she tried to close it off, they still came pouring in.

Isis spoke this time. "That girl probably thinks she's the only creature on the planet to ever deserve attention - that whore - if she had just realized for just a bit how much we hated her - We wouldn't have to pretend we're best friends now." Kori felt like she had just been slapped.

"Haha! We're pretty mean for people she considers her best friends, aren't we, Isy?" Zoe replied, laughing cheerily at Isis's malicious words.

"Oh, don't worry - we play our parts well. We listen every time she has a problem with Raven and take care of her. She's glad to have us," Isis clapped her makeup case shut after carefully applying makeup to her plain lips. "And being friends with her _does_ give us benefits - we get to go her parents' estate every day and our popularity has soared."

Isis laughed at her own words. "We're such _witches_ , Zo-zo."

"Well... we're not even started."

Isis dragged her purse off the sink and soon after, Kori heard the sound of footsteps slowly fade away - telling her that both of the girls had gone out of the restroom. For a while, she just stared emptily at the restroom graffiti. It... was... d-difficult for... her to breathe. She could hardly - if ever - believe it. Was that really Zo-zo and Isy?

Lovely, faithful Zo-zo and Isy, to whom she shared personal stories, moments, and conversations - with whom she had had sleepovers with, studied with when it was time for exams, and gone to watch movies or stroll the malls on weekends?

How could those girls be the same girls that had spat out all those mean, horrible things about her? She felt as though different people had taken over their bodies and spoken with their voices.

Or maybe, she realized as silent tears started to stream down her cheeks in rivers, it wasn't different people at all. It was Zoe and Isis, the same people she had known for four and a half years - only now, she had to see them a little better.

Her body began to tremble violently. Sometimes, fate had its way of putting you through the hardest things.

And this time, she wished she had never trusted anyone at all.

Raven... was right.

* * *

The leader of the Azar 6, Athena, yawned sleepily. She had been up all night trying to figure out her next plan of action but to no avail. That's why she had called a group meeting; to see if her comrades were faring better than she was.

The door to her office opened suddenly, startling her. Genesis, Mimete, Cerium, Nemesis, and Senshi were all there, tired and annoyed.

"What the hell is so important that you had to wake me up so early?" Senshi grumbled as he shook his black tousled hair.

"Quit your whining, slow-ass. If you didn't go to bed so late you wouldn't be tired," Genesis replied, checking her reflection and combing her hair.

Nemesis nodded in agreement. "That's right. Athen sleeps later than you do and you don't see her complaining."

Mimete closed the door behind them. "Speaking of which, why did you call us all here Athena?"

Athena removed her glasses and rubbed her temples. "I've called you all here because our plan is going nowhere. Besides the fact that Azar's Gem disappeared and the Queen doesn't know why we have no valuable information or power. Hell, even the Titans are useless at the moment. So, if any of you have anything important to tell me, tell me now."

The room was silent for a moment before Genesis raised her hand.

"Genesis?"

"After Arella sent to talk to last night, we rewatched the footage on my mirror. According to what we saw, Azar's Gem split into three identical pieces before disappearing." She finished her last sentence with a sigh as if it was of very little importance.

Everyone in the room was silent, attempting to digest the information they had attained.

Cerium shook his head in disbelief. "That is highly unlikely, Genesis. Unless an extremely powerful force or trigger caused it, the Gem wouldn't react at all, much less disappear."

"Are you calling my mirror a liar?" Genesis asked with narrowed eyes.

"No. I am just stating the obvious; you and your mirror are giving us false information."

Genesis glared at the taller boy and swung her fist, but was halted by Athena.

"Stop it, both of you," she sighed, irritated at her colleague's childishness. "Genesis, don't lay a hand on Cerium; he is your ally and you are supposed to work together. Cerium, I understand that you are a man of science and logic, but that is no reason for you to insult Genesis's abilities. She is a vital member of our team and I will not have you being disrespectful to her."

Both of them eased up.

Mimete tentatively touched Genesis's shoulder. "Genesis, would you mind retelling what you watched in your mirror, in explicit, clear detail?"

The green haired beauty begrudgingly nodded. "Yes. The scene started with Raven screaming her lungs out for no reason and then all of a sudden the Gem started to glow and shine. Then-"

"Wait," Nemesis interrupted. " After Raven screamed, the Gem reacted!" Everyone's eyes lit up.

Senshi obliviously scratched his head. "Uh... what does that mean?"

"It means," Athena said excitedly after she pulled a book out of nowhere. " that we now have the information we've been seeking for so long." She flipped through the pages and stopped once she found the correct page. As said this book 'When utilizing a powerful artifact or weapon, one must be sure of the possible triggers that might activate the weapon. If one does not know of this, the weapon will react negatively, either by disappearing or reverting to its original form. However, in rare cases, the artifact might shatter or divide into several pieces. If this is the case, the parts are usually absorbed by the closest masses; either living or nonliving.'"

The bluenette closed the text and stared at her colleagues with unparalleled excitement. They stared back with almost equal enthusiasm.

"Finally, after all this time..." Nemesis couldn't even complete his sentence.

"... we finally possess the upper hand we've needed for so long," Mimete breathed.

Genesis gazed at her reflection in awe, uninterested in the conversation but still asked a question everyone was wondering. "So... what will we do with this fresh knowledge?"

The others looked to their leader for instruction.

The bluenette put her glasses back on and regarded her associates seriously.

"As you all understand, for our plan to be successful, we will need to be secretive and trusting. This is why I want you all to appear as reputable as possible. "

She turned to Genesis.

"Senshi and Nemesis, I expect you to collect enough souls to power the Master and that is exactly what you will do."

"Cerium, once the bodies are empty, you will use the host bodies and perform Vesselization as usual."

"Genesis, I want you to work as hard as you can to find out which of the three Titans are carrying the pieces of Azar's Gem."

The greenette folded her arms. "Excuse me?"

Athena frowned. "You heard my instructions. Do you want me to repeat them for you?"

"I heard you. I just didn't think you were being serious. My Soul Mirror is only able to recognize sinful souls, not pure ones. What you are asking me to do is virtually impossible."

Cerium snorted. "For once Genesis is correct. Athena, what are you going to do about that?"

The bluenette smiled. "I know what I'm doing. Mimete will change your mirror with her magic; once she perfects the spell, your mirror will be reprogramed."

Mimete sweat-dropped. Her magic was unpredictable. How the hell was she going to reprogram a magical object without screwing up?

"Can we go now? I'm still sleepy," Senshi yawned.

Athena nodded. "Alright, dismissed."

"Ugh, she's so bossy," Genesis said once she was a reasonable distance from Athena's office. The hall was empty; Nemesis, Senshi, and Mimete had gone to their rooms already.

Cerium shook his head. "She's not bossy, she's just very intelligent and utilizes it to help us."

"But she never listens to our ideas and acts so perfect and flawless all the time around Arella. If that lazy-ass woman knew that her favorite minion was conspiring against her, she'd kill herself," the green girl spat out bitterly.

"Maybe, but we still have to listen to Athena. Without her, we'd be in shambles. In a way, we owe her for keeping our plan secret from Arella for so long."

"Ugh, I still don't like her." Genesis stopped at her door and twisted the knob. "You know, you don't have to watch me enter my room, pervert."

Cerium smiled. "Very well then. Goodbye."

* * *

As soon as I walked into my AP English, I immediately noticed our desks were rearranged into groups. handed me a sheet of paper and told me my desk was in table 4. Dammit, why the hell would make us do group projects?

Group projects are supposed to teach you communication, responsibility, collaboration, and teamwork but instead, they teach you to trust none of the bitches in your group. Seriously, group projects help me understand why Batman works alone.

The rest of the class filled in and Rumph shut the door.

"Hey, Rae. We're doing a group project aren't we?" Garfield asked suddenly, startling me.

"No shit Sherlock," I mumbled.

"SILENCE!" Rumph yelled at the top of his lungs. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! Anyway, we are halfway through the school year and by now, you should know every book we've read so far by heart. So, for your mid-year project, I want each of the people in your groups to record a video of them summarizing the following books: The perks of being a wallflower, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-four, and The Scarlet Letter. In addition to this, I want you to record your group acting out one of the books of your choice. You will turn these videos in and present them to the class."

Then, as if this wasn't enough, he added, "This project is worth 80% of your final grade."

My jaw dropped. Did he really expect us to do such mountainous amount of homework in... wait how many weeks?

I raised my hand. "How long do we have to complete the assignment?"

"Two weeks."

Nevermind, a reasonable enough deadline isn't so bad. Rumph laid four packets on our desks. I groaned and looked across from my desk at my other two partners. Zoe Armstrong and David Dobrik. The drama queen and the laziest kid in our class. Oh, joy.

Zoe picked up a packet. "So, who wants to do what?" she asked my group. Gar yawned and David mumbled 'whatever' before he pulled his hood down.

"Gar, you have Brave New World, Raven has The Scarlet Letter, David had The perks of being a wallflower, and I get Nineteen Eighty-Four. Agreed?" she said.

For once, Zoe Armstrong decided to take charge. Too bad I didn't care enough to congratulate her.

"And for the play, we'll..." I don't care. I don't care, I chanted internally.

I looked across the room at Kevin. Ugh God, he was so hot, I would totally violate the PDA rules to get a piece of that.

"... do The Scarlet Letter." I could feel a yawn coming on. Dammit! I scratched my nose to hide it. Nice.

"Let's put a pin in that," Zoe said. Let's put a pin in your face, Armstrong. But you're probably used to that from all the botox.

"Kind of atrocious, don't you think, " she continued. Why. Was. She. Still talking?!

David sat up. "I want some pie."

Mmmmm... pie.

"Let's circle up on that."

Circle of pie...

"What's next on the agenda?"

Agenda of pie...

Suddenly, Gar stood erectly. "Uh... what are we doing again?"

I groaned. This would be a long class period.

* * *

Tarassa thanked the cashier with a smile and picked up her tray. She walked over to the condiment table to put ketchup on her veggie burger.

"Hey cutie," a masculine voice said. She jumped back and accidentally squirted ketchup on her palm. _Turn around_ , her thoughts urged her. She turned and she slowly turned and found herself staring into blue eyes.

"Hi..." the blonde said. "And you are?"

"Casey Eliss," he said. "Nice to meet you, cutie. Want to sit with me and the guys?"

Tarassa inspected him. His blonde hair and blue eyes made him cute enough, so she guessed it was okay. And his high cheekbones and chiseled jaw made it easier to decide.

"Sure." She nodded and took a couple of napkins and set them next to her meal.

She walked across the cafeteria, tray in hand. She looked around the room and spotted Raven and Gar sitting in various tables. Casey stopped at a table filled with guys and sat down. He patted the seat next to him, motioning for her to sit next to him. She obeyed and looked around. There were some people she recognized. The ginger cheerleader, Victor the biggest jock, and... Richard.

She blushed when he met her gaze and looked away.

The blonde picked up her veggie burger and took two big bites, finishing it instantly.

"You're a disposable garbage can aren't you, cutie?" Casey said. He inched so close she could smell his aftershave. Damn, he was hot. _I should probably say something flirtatious back_ , she commanded herself.

Smiling back stupidly, the blonde responded, "If you were a tree... you'd be a good tree."

He smiled even wider. "You're not good at flirting are you, cutie?"

Tarassa frowned. "Calling you a tree is flirting. There's nothing sexier than a wooden piece of bark that blows in the wind. And besides... awkwardness is the best form of flirting."

"Whatever you say, cutie," he responded.

"Is 'cutie' the only thing you know how to say?"

"I only say it when I'm around a sexy girl."

She grinned. "I think you're a nice looking tree too."

Casey opened his mouth to answer but yelled, "Yo, Gar, you and Branchie hooking up now?"

The blonde turned around to see Gar and Raven holding hands. Well, he was griping her hand and she looked extremely pissed off. The book in her hand suggested she wanted to be reading.

"Please, please, pleasee, Rae..." Gar pleaded.

She growled and glared daggers at him but at the same time had an exasperated look on her face that made it seems as if he was wearing her down.

Tarassa stood up, walked over to Raven and linked arms with her. She had to save her from Gar. Afterall, they were friends and Raven was still wearing her necklace.

A little surprised and angry, Raven tried to wiggle from the blonde girl's grasp but to no avail. She dragged her to where she was sitting and patted the seat next to her's.

"Come on. You can sit with me."

Raven sighed deeply and opened her book. "If one of you fucktards interrupt my reading, I'll kill you."

Tarassa giggled; when Raven was pissed she was funny. She turned back to Casey whose face was etched in surprise.

"How'd you get Raven Roth to sit here?"

"We're friends."

He chuckled like that was a joke. "I didn't think that was possible. Not everyone wants to be her friend."

"Well, I'm not everyone."

Casey laughed again and put his arm around her. "Don't I know it, cutie." She smiled and snuggled into his warm chest.

He was exactly what she needed. She could just feel it; Casey would be her savior. He would love her and care for her.


	6. Episode 5: This Is Us

I sighed in exhaustion as I shifted then boxes and bins to the side. Finally, I discovered what I was searching for: the Christmas bin. It was December 10 and Daddy hadn't put the tree up yet, so I decided to do it for him. I didn't really fancy Christmas, but Daddy loved it. He and Mama used to host themed parties every Christmas, but after Mama's death the parties stopped and people stopped coming.

I shook my head to release the bad memories. I was used to a Christmas without Mama.

I dragged the box across the floor, occasionally slipping, and finally made it to the tree. Daddy and I always picked artificial trees because real trees are a waste of time. I took the ornaments from the bin and began decorating our tree with ornaments and tinsel.

While putting the tinsel on, my necklace got caught in its string.

"Dammit," I muttered as I pried it off. Why the hell did I even have the damn thing? I couldn't commit to a relationship, but I was attached to a crappy piece of jewelry?

Hell no. When Monday comes around, I was definitely going to give that blonde girl _her_ necklace back. I shivered. Or maybe not because it was too damn chilly in California. Seriously, how did Kori Anders survive in her cheerleader miniskirt?

I shivered again. Time to go to Starbucks.

* * *

A stuffed animal was hurled across the room, followed by another and another and another. Finally, when Kori ran out of stuffed animals to throw, she took her pillows and hurled them at her stained glass windows.

The ginger buried her face in her pink satin mattress. How could they? How could they? Zo-zo and Isy were her best friends. How could they gossip behind her back and say such horrible things? Were those ten years meaningless for them? Those ten years of secrets, sleepovers, outings, and friendship. All of it... worth nothing.

Nothing...

Nothing...

Nothing.

Kori lifted her head to look at the photograph on her nightstand. She picked it up. It was of her, Zoe, and Isis on their first day of high school.

She gripped the frame.

 _Damn them_.

 _Damn them._

 _Damn them._

" _Damn you!_ " she screamed at the top of her lungs. With all the strength she could muster, the angry ginger flung at the window, shattering it. Then she broke down, sobbing and screaming animalistic sounds.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Small Lady?" said the concerned voice of her nanny, Celia.

" _Go away!"_ she shrieked at her. She expected Celia to come inside, but Kori didn't hear a sound from the other end of the door.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Kori lifted her blotchy face up. _I have to get out of here._ She got up and inspected her reflection in the mirror. Her hair clung to her wet face, her makeup was running, and her bloodshot eyes overpowered her green irises.

Kori grabbed a makeup wipe and removed cosmetics from her face. Then she dried her tears with a tissue before brushing her fiery mane. When she decided she look too unattractive, Kori took her puffy pink coat and exited her room.

* * *

I shivered despite all the layers I was wearing underneath. Well, not really. I was just wearing a sweater over a blue floral print dress, so I could understand why I was shivering. I took a sip of my drink. Mmm, fills you right up.

I stuffed my right hand into my pocket and continued on the road back to my apartment. Just as I was nearing it, however, a flash of red caught my eye. I turned to view what was across the street and to my astonishment it was Kori Anders. Her gait and posture were horrible and just overall lacked the energy I would associate with Kori Anders.

She didn't notice me and just continued walking. I don't know what made me do it, but for some reason, I followed her. Any sane person wouldn't follow someone who had hurt them so deeply, but then again, I'm not normal.

She turned right into Inman Park and sat on a nearby bench, pulling her legs up to her chest and burying her face in her hands. So many images flashed through my mind when I watched her do that.

I sat down next to her and copied her position which was difficult to do in a dress. She still didn't notice me. Finally, I said, "Hey."

Her head snapped up in shock the moment that word fell off my tongue. "Raven?" Her voice was weak and fragile as if she had just been crying and I could see dry tear streaks on her tan face. It was the first time in my life I saw Kori genuinely hurt and weak. The other times she cried about work, people, and just life in general, but that day... I knew something was up.

"So, what happened?"

She looked down at me, debating on whether or not she should tell me. Five, ten minutes passed and nothing. Nothing whatsoever. But I stayed there. Kori was a bitch, but she was one of best friends, so I couldn't leave her.

"Zoe and Isis betrayed me." The last two words came out like a whimper; the kind an injured animal would make. I couldn't say I was surprised because I always knew Zoe and Isis were fake people. Anyone who wasn't a blind follower could see that. And the way they treated Kori was disgusting. She was the third best friend and always did what they said because she desperately wanted to be their friend.

Eventually, they molded her into a fake drama queen too, always seeking attention and making a scene. The kind Kori turned into fake Kori and after they completely changed her personality, they just left her behind. Perhaps they were growing bored of her and wanted a new victim. Whatever the reason, Kori gave them her everything and they took that and stomped all over it.

Just like what she had done to her.

"I can't say I'm shocked. I always knew those girls were fake."

The ginger sniffled. "But I didn't. I thought they were my friends, I thought they loved me."

I didn't respond to that statement. I had asked myself that question many times and still didn't have the answer.

The ginger continued. "After ten years of friendship, all of it's gone. How could they say such mean things? I trusted them. I gave them everything. And _they_ just threw it away!" Then she burst into tears and sobbed so loudly people turned to observe us. I looked around nervously, wondering what I should do. Do I hug her? Do I pat her head? Yes, that's what I should do!

Tentatively, I reached my hand out and began stroking her head. She continued to cry. I sighed in deeply. She wasn't going to stop crying, so I decided to use the technique Mama always used on me: singing.

"Everything's going to be alright; the Sandman will come into the night. And you'll drift off to sleep and you will not more weep. Pain and sadness disappear; do not think about your fears," I sang.

Eventually, her crying was reduced to silent sobs before she ceased crying altogether.

"Why are you doing this, Raven?" the redhead asked. "I've been so horrible to you and here you are, comforting me."

I stood up, knowing where this conversation would go. "Because of... when you betrayed me to be friends with Zoe and Isis, I wished someone would comfort me."

And before she could say anything, I walked away.

* * *

Jump City is the city of delusion.

Many people thought it was a perfect city because of the weather, low taxes, and the competent police force, but they never talked about the Corner of the Titans. Ever. This week, Jinx, one of the top Titans, went on a rampage and began stabbing people from Delusional Jump City. No one reported her or even arrested her.

Of course, stabbing is nothing compared to what they do to you here. That's why Richard learned at a young age to survive. In fact, his earliest memories were of when he was stealing and fighting for food. If even was any, that is.

So, it baffled him when he saw that skinny blonde chick in the Quater of the Titans. She wasn't the type of girl he thought would be living in a place like this. She was like a china doll that could break easily. But those facts were what made her so damn interesting. That also explained why he occasionally followed her around when she didn't know it.

Yes, that was creepy and stalker-like, but most people in the Quater of the Titans were for that matter. One could only get into so many fights before one starts getting bored.

On a particular day when he was bored and decided to follow her, the blonde chick went out into the forest portion of the Quater of the Titans. Not many people lived there because of the vermin, but for some reason, she had the bright idea to go there. She wandered for about ten minutes before the trees opened up and a clearing came into view. She halted in the middle of the clearing and sat down on the dark grass.

He squinted his eyes into the darkness and tried to see what she was doing.

She was humming. It was a strange melody but sounded oddly familiar; like Richard had heard it before, long ago. As if on cue, random chirping began to sing along with her unusual melody. The blonde outstretched her arms and out of nowhere, a few birds perched on her limbs. Little squirrels, rabbits, deer, and other woodland creatures suddenly appeared out of the bushes and slowly approached the girl.

 _What the fuck is this bullshit?_ Richard exclaimed in his mind. _Am I so fucked up that I have gone crazy? How the fuck is she doing that? What the fuck, what fuck, what the fuck?! She's a witch! A WITCH!_ In his shock, he stumbled backward so far he broke a tree branch and fell into a bush, snapping the twigs.

"Who's there?! Who are you?!" The girl's voice was fearful and frightened.

"Aww, for fuck's sake," Richard groaned, brushing himself off. He stood up and emerged from the shadows and smirked, reveling in the blonde's shocked expression. Although it was relatively dark, he could still see her luminescent blonde hair and quivering bottom in the darkness.

"Listen, chick," he sighed. "I know I'm handsome and irresistible and you, like every girl, wants me, but stop staring. Your gaze is enough to make me want to shit my pants."

She still didn't talk.

Richard furrowed his brows and puffed his chest up in annoyance. "Seriously, do I owe you something?" he demanded, as if angry that she kept staring and didn't answer. "Because if anything, you owe me, Snow White. A loaf of bread is a feast in these parts, so I was being fucking generous when I offered it to you. So, you can repay me by having sex with me."

Of course, he didn't mean that last part because... look at her. But the blonde took it seriously and stood up sharply. She balled her hands into fists and got into the weirdest fighting stance he'd ever seen.

"What the hell are you doing?" He walked closer toward her, sat down on the grass and pulled out his cigarette pack. He lighted one cigarette and casually drew a long, heavy puff of smoke, just as he did the day they first met.

"I was protecting myself from you just in case you... Why are you so casual?!" she demanded.

Richard chuckled softly, a puff of smoke coming out with each breath. "Did you really think I meant what I said about fucking you? I couldn't, don't get me wrong, but... look at you."

His words didn't seem to affect her though because she retorted. "Listen, if you think I'm so ugly, you can do something about it. It's called fucking off and it's located over there," she pointed behind him.

He drew another long breath of smoke from his cigarette and smiled. "Stop acting savage, you don't even know what that means." Her mouth hung for a moment as she attempted to formulate another comeback, but she had nothing to say to that and just sighed in defeat.

Richard chuckled. "So... you're Casey's girlfriend, right?"

She blushed. "Not really. We just met, but he's hot."

"You know, you're not the first girl he's brought to our table."

She nodded. "I figured as much. He's really attractive." Her stomach growled once she uttered that last word.

"Tch." He popped the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it under his heel. "You get hungry a lot, don't you?"

She covered her stomach to stifle the sound.

"It can't be helped." He stood up and grabbed her skinny arm. "Let's go."

"Where?" she asked, wiggling her arm free.

"To get food, obviously." He grabbed her arm again and let her out of the forest. "By the way what's your name?"

"Tarassa."

He nearly gagged; what a horrendous name. "Yeah, I'm just going to call you Deep Freezer."

She glared at him. "Fuck you."

"What? It suits you."

* * *

Gar walked around Inman Park, marveling at how slowly the cherry blossom fell to the ground. It might have been winter in other parts of the US, but in Jump City, the lowest the temperature went was 75 degrees.

He stopped at a nearby bench and sat down to watch the happy couples.

 _Gee,_ w _ouldn't Rae and I look cute under those cherry trees together? Hey, there's Rae right now?_

He stood up and ran toward the raven-haired beauty. And as usual, she was dressed like his grandma's bathroom wallpaper. Rae could be stylish when she wanted to. She rocked dark eyeliner and gothic fashion. But she was also very conservative and wore blue floral, collared, mid-calf length, button down dresses with oxfords and white ankle socks.

As soon as she spotted him running up to her, a deep frown matted her dark features.

"What do you want Garfield Logan?" she demanded as soon as he reached her.

"Nothing, Rae. You just look like you could use some company."

She shook her head. "Raven. And just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'm lonely. My Starbucks' coffee is keeping me company," she said, holding it up.

Gar smiled smugly. "Psssh. What's Starbucks' coffee got on me?"

"Well, for one thing, it's hotter than you are."

Gar hung his head. "Rae, how could you be so cruel to such a cute guy?"

She took a sip of her drink. "Hey, you're cute, but that won't stop me from-"

"YOU THINK I'M CUTE?!" Gar gasped, too happy to even think. His emerald eyes went wide and his smile extended so wide his face was trembling. _No way, no way, no way! Rae thinks I'm cute? This is the best day of my life!_

Raven rolled her eyes. "I didn't say that", she muttered.

Gar ignored her words and ran ahead. "She thinks I'm cute! She thinks I'm cute!" he yelled gleefully.

Raven shut her eyes to control her anger. "I didn't say that," she said a little more forcefully.

"She thinks I'm cute! She thinks I'm cute!" Gar continued. He went up to any random person he could find and yelled those four words over and over.

 _"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!"_ Raven yelled, running after him. She gripped her Starbucks' cup, too furious to process coherent thought. If the world found out that she thought Garfield Logan was cute, she would never hear the end of it.

 _"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!"_

However, even though it was barely noticeable, a faint pink blush could be seen on the dark girl's cheeks.

* * *

 _It's fuckin' glorious in California right now,_ Vic thought as he watched Dick Assman, the weatherman, describe Jump City's weather in fancy science words.

 _Haha! **Dick Ass** man! His mama done messed up when she named him that!_

The weather forecast switched to pictures of other states in turmoil because of the snow and cold weather. He snickered. His favorite part of winter was watching it from the TV in California. Seriously, the coldest it got California was 65 degrees. Not that he was complaining.

 _Damn, it's hot in here!_ _I've got to get out of here if I don't want to become chocolate ice cream!_

He rose from his comfortable spot on the couch and went upstairs to grab his jersey. Once he had it on, he grabbed his house key and phone. No way in hell was he going to drive today. Gas was expensive and even in residential Jump City, there was traffic.

Once he locked the door and double-checked the locks, he turned left and walked toward the Mcdonalds down the street, because cold weather made him crave meat even more.

As he passed the playground, a group of hyperactive children stopped playing on the swings and the slides to greet him.

"Hi, Vic!" a little boy yelled, waving his tiny hand. "Hey, guys it's Vic!"

"HI, VIC!" they all yelled, simultaneously waving.

"Hey, guys!" he waved back. Those kids were very lucky. The majority of the children in his neighborhood were in elementary school, so they only worried about cooties. Lucky young bastards.

Soon, he was one intersection away from his meat destination. But, as he was approaching it, he spotted his friend Kori sitting on a bus bench. But she didn't look like his friend. Vic immediately ran over to her. _What's wrong, what could be wrong?_

He sat down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Kor, what's wrong girl?"

The redhead's body went ridged. She reluctantly lifted her head to face her friend. "Oh, hey Vic. What's up?" she sniffled, trying to sound cheerful.

 _What happened to Kori? Who did this? Is this Kori?_

Numerous thoughts swirled around his head, furthering his worry. This girl wasn't Kori.

Kori had luxurious hair, a confident posture, and carefully applied makeup that nobody dared to mess up. Kori would never cry. Kori's hair would never cling to her tear-stained face. Kori would never be sitting on a bus bench because she was afraid a homeless person sat there.

That was the Kori he knew. Not _this_.

He repeated his question. "Kor, what's wrong?"

"Um, I...um...Z-Zoe...a-an-and... I-Isis...t-they...they..." she managed before bursting into tears.

 _OK, that's it!_

Vic stood up and pulled Kori to her feet. She looked up at him in shock. "What are you..."

"Girl, you need sugar. Now." And he dragged her away to the nearby waffle and crepe stand.

* * *

She hopped from tree to tree adamant on following their conversation. She had already finished with Richard and Tarassa, but Raven and Garfield weren't going anywhere, so decided to watch Kori.

The pair ceased walking and ordered what seemed to be crepes from a local food vendor. Once they received their food, Koir and Victor sat down and began talking about Kori's relationship with her former best friends.

Athena sighed. _Just the same nonsense she had repeated to Raven._

She flipped through her journal and smirked at all the information she had managed to write down in the span of half an hour. Kori was the easiest, but so was Raven, surprisingly. She never fathomed the idea of such different females being friends, even though they were in their past lives. Raven and Garfield, however, had undeniable chemistry, so that was noteworthy.

Tarassa and Richard had chemistry as well, although their's was more aggressive. They liked communicating through insults and Richard seemed genuinely put off by the blonde's behavior and appearance. But it was still there.

Victor was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. His life seemed fine and he didn't have any conflict with any of the other Titans, so she would have to pay closer attention to him.

Overall, she had enough information to conclude the following: if she and her comrades were counting on these teenagers to save Aazarth, they were fucked. They all lacked the emotional maturity to be heroes. Also, neither of them seemed pure enough to possess a shard of Azar's Gem. But, it couldn't be helped; they were running out of time. Arella was many things, but she was not stupid. If the work they did didn't come to fruition, she would surely exterminate them or worse.

So today would have to be the day. Hopefully, nothing would get in the way.

* * *

"Did you see his face?" Tarassa giggled.

Richard chuckled and slapped her on the back, nearly knocking the petite blonde over. "His face looked like a motherfucking meme!"

She bit into her crepe and almost fainted in delight. Then she took a big bite, finishing the crepe altogether.

"So, Deep Freezer, did you enjoy your first meal of the day?"

"It was like dying, going to heaven and eating one of the angels, and then going back to Earth and still tasting the angel in your mouth."

"A simple 'yes' would have done it, Deep Freezer."

Tarassa put her hands on her bony hips. "Well, I can be a little weird sometimes."

"Oh, don't I know it. Does one of your skill sets include having concerts with vermin the in the woods?"

She stopped walking. "Animals aren't vermin; they're friends. And I didn't mean to do it on purpose. I was testing out a trick someone once showed me."

Richard smirked and pulled her behind a tree. "Do it right now."

"Huh?"

"The animal -Snow -White shit. Do it."

She slapped his chest. "Are you insane? There are people in this park. You want me to start humming and singing like I'm on the set of Highschool Musical?"

"What's the problem? You did it in the forest."

"Yeah, but that was private. Think of how terrified these people are going to be if I do that!" Tarassa tried to reason.

He smirked again. "That's the point."

"Ugh. Get off of me, asshole!" the blonde struggled.

Richard was about to reply when a familiar voice cut him off. "Yo, Dicky, you cheating on Kori now?"

He snapped his head around to face the owner of that voice: Vic. He was accompanied by Kori, Gar, and Raven who were all as amused as Vic was. The bad boy immediately stepped away from the blonde.

"Vic, do you have nothing better do other than spying?" he glared at his friend.

"Well, it isn't spying if you have nothing to hide, Dicky." The smiled on his face made him boil with anger.

"I didn't know you liked Sissy, Rich. I could have set you guys up," Gar said, holding a fuming Raven's hand. No doubt, he probably forced her to go with the group.

Kori rushed over to Deep Freezer. "Stars and moonbeam, honey, I need to get you a new outfit," she criticized. Figures, Kori was the self-proclaimed fashion police.

"What's wrong with it?" Deep Freezer frowned.

"Well, for one thing: your shirt is too long and the orange clashes with the maroon. Your shoes look like their about to fall apart and the jacket is too purple."

No one said anything for a minute until Raven spoke a monotone, "Can I go now?"

Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar pierced through the air, shaking the trees and shaking the ground. Everyone in the vicinity screamed and ran, terror written all over their faces. Richard turned to see what had caused such an outburst when he came face to face with the most terrifying creature he had seen.

It had purple skin and seemed to be amorphous because it didn't resemble any sort of living creature. The eyes were blood red and without any irises and its teeth were pointed and jagged, dripping with saliva. Richard gulped. And it was looking right at him...


End file.
